Politics

Conservative lead cut to 6 points with a month to go

The Conservatives lead in the polls has been cut to six points with a month to go until the general election.

Boris Johnson called the first December election since 1923 last month, but his campaign has been beset with controversies since the announcement.

Jacob Rees-Mogg came in for severe criticism after suggesting the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire should have used “common sense” during the evacuation, and Francesca O’Brien was found to have said people featured in reality TV show Benefits Street needed “putting down”.

There is also a growing suspicion that the Prime Minister is sitting on a Russian interference report until after the election, something Hilary Clinton described as “inexplicable and shameful“.

Boost in the polls

There has been a significant boost in the polls for Labour as a result.

Jeremy Corbyn’s party started the campaign some 16 points behind the Conservatives, with Opinium data from the last week in October showing Johnson on 40 per cent in the polls.

But according to the latest study from Survation, their lead has been cut to just six points with Labour on 29 per cent of the vote and the Tories on 35 per cent.

Brexit Party

The Brexit Party remain even on ten per cent of the vote, although that doesn’t reflect recent changes in the party’s policy on standing in Conservative-held seats.

Yesterday Nigel Farage announced that they would pull out of all 317 seats with a Tory MP.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain today Farage said he has “given more ground than anyone in the interest of putting country before party”, adding:

“I made a big, generous offer to the Conservative Party yesterday”, gifting them seats that may otherwise have been under threat in a bid to fend off any chance of a second referendum.

Related: Greens stand aside to help Labour unseat Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford and Woodford Green

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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